Maritime MeToo: An Expanding List of Survivors of Maritime Sexual Harassment, Assault, & Abuse Who Have Shared Their Stories Publicly
MaritimeMeToo: Survivors Who Have Publicly Shared Their Stories of Maritime Sexual Harassment, Assault, & Abuse.
If you are aware of a name/story that should be added to this list, please email help@maritimelegalaid.com or leave a comment on this post. Find other stories of maritime abuse shared anonymously in the Survivors Speak section of our website. Last Updated December 3, 2023.
By MLAA
Hope Hicks (Midshipman-X): U.S. Merchant Marine Academy student first shared her story on MLAA on September 28, 2021.
Elsie Dominguez: On November 29, 2023 U.S. Merchant Marine Academy graduate Elsie E. Dominguez filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Navy alleging that while working as the civilian 1st Assistant Engineer aboard the USNS Carson City she was drugged by a spiked drink while ashore and then raped by the vessel’s captain. Dominguez alleged in her lawsuit that Navy and Military Sealift Command (MSC) officials failed to protect her from sexual assault.
Elizabeth McNie: California Maritime Academy professor who shared her story on MLAA in 2022.
Midshipman-Y: U.S. Merchant Marine Academy student, class of 2024, told her story in a lawsuit she filed against Maersk in June of 2022 and sat for a television interview with CNN in 2023.
Ashley Codrington: American merchant mariner sexually harassed at sea by her Captain. Ashley shared her story with the National Broadcasting Corporation of Denmark (aka DR.DK), the largest and most influential media outlet in Denmark in June of 2022. In 2023 Ashley settled her civil claims against the shipping company.
Erika Lawson: U.S. Merchant Marine Academy graduate. She shared her story of being sexually assaulted during her Sea Year with the Washington Post in 2016. Erika is the first known survivor of maritime sexual assault to share her name, face, and story publicly.
Maggie Williams: California Maritime Academy graduate shared her story on MLAA in 2022: “I Was a 19 Year Old California Maritime Deck Cadet Alone on a Container Ship. He Was 15 or 20 Years Older and an Officer. I’m Not Sure if It Was Rape, but It Was Definitely Not Consensual.”
Ryan Melogy: U.S. Merchant Marine Academy graduate, MLAA founder, has written and spoken extensively about his experiences of being sexually harassed and assaulted by Captain Mark Stinziano aboard the M/V Maersk Idaho in 2014 and 2015, as well as the nearly decade-long legal saga that ensued, and the shipboard harassment and assaults Melogy endured as retaliation.
Chelsea Tapper: U.S. Merchant Marine Academy graduate. Chelsea courageously spoke out in Newsday in 2017 and shared her powerful story “Kings Point Must Change” on MLAA in 2020.
Linsey Knight: Longtime merchant marine officer and member of the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots. Knight told CNN in March of 2023 “she was cornered and kissed by one crew member and fondled by another as an apprentice on her very first sailing voyage and was raped by an officer on a ship years later…I did not report my incidents because of shame, fear of retribution, firing, being labeled as … that bitch who ruined a good man’s life or career or reputation.”
Stephanie Vincent-Sheldon: A graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, she is the only USMMA student known to have had a sexual assault case criminally prosecuted, and that was back in 1997, when she reported an older male student barged into her room and molested her in her bed. Stephanie told her story to CNN in 2022, “Culture of fear at Merchant Marine Academy silences students who say they were sexually harassed and assaulted.”
Ann [Last Name Withheld]: British merchant navy officer told her stories of sexual abuse at sea to German public broadcaster DW in April of 2023: “But she's more hopeful now, because speaking about her experience takes some of the power away from her tormentors, she said. ‘It should be their shame, not mine.’"
Don Burnham: U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Class of 1956. Don shared his story with MLAA in 2022, “USMMA Class of 1956 Graduate Recounts Being Assigned to a Ship with a Sexually Predatory Captain During Sea Year in 1954.”
Craig Failla: Former student at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Craig shared his story with MLAA in 2021, “I Had to Quit the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy After I Was Subjected to Months of Horrific Sexual Harassment and Abuse During Sea Year. I’m a Man, and I Will No Longer Stay Silent.”
Valerie Russo: While sailing as Chief Steward aboard an American President Lines containership, Russo was sexually harassed by the Captain of the vessel. Russo later told her story in a lawsuit filed against APL.
Sophie Scopazzi: Sophie has repeatedly shared her story of sexual harassment, threats, and anti-trans discrimination endured while a student at the California Maritime Academy. She has shared her story in the L.A. Times in 2022, in an interview with MLAA in 2022, and repeatedly on her blog CSUMStudentVoice.org
Katlyn Harmon: Maine Maritime Academy graduate shared her story of being raped on campus at MMA in a powerful televised interview with WABI5 in June of 2021, “Maine Maritime Academy graduate shares personal story of being assaulted on campus.”
Tamara Bryant: In 2010, while serving as a NOAA federal fisheries monitor aboard the F/V Sea Farmer II, Bryant was subjected to a week of outrageous and persistent at-sea sexual harassment by John Cusick, a crew member aboard the vessel. Bryant reported Cusick, and then federal prosecutors in Massachusetts brought criminal charges against Cusick under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. At trial, Cusick was convicted on one count of impeding, intimidating, sexually harassing, and interfering with Bryant in the performance of her duties. Bryant’s case is one of the only successful prosecutions of an American mariner for sexual misconduct committed at sea aboard a U.S.-flag commercial vessel.
Jessica Ryals: Graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and Master Mariner. In April of 2023 Ryals spoke out publicly in an explosive L.A. Times investigative report titled “CSU Women Say they Faced Sexual Abuse and Harassment on a Training Ship,” which detailed a myriad of problems associated with Cal Maritime’s training ship T/S Golden Bear. The L.A. Times story stated that while serving as Chief Mate of the Golden Bear, Jessica Ryals filed a formal complaint against the vessel’s Captain, and that a subsequent Cal Maritime investigation, completed in October of 2022, found that the Captain had sexually harassed and retaliated against Ryals in violation of CSU policy. In the L.A. Times story, Ryals also recounted retaliation and harassment she faced in the wake of speaking out against the Captain, and said that she was forced to leave Cal Maritime, ending her dream of becoming the first woman to captain the Golden Bear. “I cared very greatly about educating and graduating the next generation of merchant mariners and being a mentor and helping to train and guide these young people,” Ryals was quoted as saying. “It absolutely broke my heart to feel like that was all taken away from me.”